- Modern Foreign Languages Teaching and Learning, Applied Linguistics, Español Lengua Extranjera, Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language, Second Language Acquisition, Formación de profesores de español como lengua extranjera, and 27 morePsycholinguistics, Morphological processing in a second language, Morphological Processing in Lexical Access, Languages and Linguistics, Linguistics, Morphological Awareness, Dyslexia, Idioms, Morphology, Experimental Psycholinguistics, Priming, Morfologia, Visual Word Recognition, Masked Priming, Lexical Decision, Psicolingüística, Procesamiento Morfológico, Transposed letters effects, Teaching of Foreign Languages, Cognitive Linguistics, Academic Writing, Memory (Cognitive Psychology), Academic Writings, Language Learning, Word formation, Spanish as a Foreign Language, and Spanishedit
Studies on morphological processing in French, as in other languages, have shown disparate results. We argue that a critical and long-overlooked factor that could underlie these diverging results is the methodological differences in the... more
Studies on morphological processing in French, as in other languages, have shown disparate results. We argue that a critical and long-overlooked factor that could underlie these diverging results is the methodological differences in the calculation of morphological variables across studies. To address the need for a common morphological database, we present MorphoLex-FR, a sizeable and freely available database with 12 variables for prefixes, roots, and suffixes for the 38,840 words of the French Lexicon Project. MorphoLex-FR constitutes a first step to render future studies addressing morphological processing in French comparable. The procedure we used for morphological segmentation and variable computation is effectively the same as that in MorphoLex, an English morphological database. This will allow for cross-linguistic comparisons of future studies in French and English that will contribute to our understanding of how morphologically complex words are processed. To validate these variables, we explored their influence on lexical decision latencies for morphologically complex nouns in a series of hierarchical regression models. The results indicated that only morphological variables related to the suffix explained lexical decision latencies. The frequency and family size of the suffix exerted facilitatory effects, whereas the percentage of more frequent words in the morphological family of the suffix was inhibitory. Our results are in line with previous studies conducted in French and in English. In conclusion, this database represents a valuable resource for studies on the effect of morphology in visual word processing in French.
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The ability to identify the morphemes that compose a word facilitates its recognition. This is particularly relevant because most of the new words an adult reader will find are morphologically complex. Root morphology (e.g., frequency and... more
The ability to identify the morphemes that compose a word facilitates its recognition. This is particularly relevant because most of the new words an adult reader will find are morphologically complex. Root morphology (e.g., frequency and family size) has been widely investigated. Prefix and suffix morphology has generally been kept out of the spotlight. In the present study we explored the influence of prefix, root and suffix morphological variables (e.g., frequency, family size, productivity, etc.) on lexical decision (LD) latencies.
METHOD. We used a series of hierarchical regression models with 1,228 morphologically complex English nouns that included both a suffix and a prefix.
RESULTS. After controlling for the effect of lexical (Step 1) and semantic variables (Step 2), morphological variables affected latencies. Root cumulative frequency and prefix productivity exerted a facilitatory effect on latencies. The percentage of more frequent words than the target in the families of the prefix and the suffix showed an inhibitory effect on latencies.
CONCLUSIONS. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that addresses the simultaneous presence of a prefix and a suffix in LD in English. Our results further support the contribution of root frequency. They also extend previous findings on the influence of suffix morphology to prefix morphological variables. Our results shed new light on the importance of the lexical competitors of the families of prefixes and suffixes, beyond root morphological variables.
METHOD. We used a series of hierarchical regression models with 1,228 morphologically complex English nouns that included both a suffix and a prefix.
RESULTS. After controlling for the effect of lexical (Step 1) and semantic variables (Step 2), morphological variables affected latencies. Root cumulative frequency and prefix productivity exerted a facilitatory effect on latencies. The percentage of more frequent words than the target in the families of the prefix and the suffix showed an inhibitory effect on latencies.
CONCLUSIONS. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that addresses the simultaneous presence of a prefix and a suffix in LD in English. Our results further support the contribution of root frequency. They also extend previous findings on the influence of suffix morphology to prefix morphological variables. Our results shed new light on the importance of the lexical competitors of the families of prefixes and suffixes, beyond root morphological variables.
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"This study will include both a lexical frequency analysis and an investi- gation into the lexical characteristics of the words in the textbooks. Concretely, it will explore two lexical characteristics that affect word learnability,... more
"This study will include both a lexical frequency analysis and an investi- gation into the lexical characteristics of the words in the textbooks. Concretely, it will explore two lexical characteristics that affect word learnability, namely, word length and concreteness of meaning. Moreover, the evolution of word length and concreteness from elementary textbooks (ETs) to intermediate textbooks (ITs) will be investigated. This information is relevant for language teachers and LPDs, as it may help them select more learnable and useful lexical items for their curricula, make informed decisions on textbook adoptions, and better train their students to cope with lexical characteristics that increase the learning burden of a word (Laufer, 1990, 2012)."
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El presente estudio analiza el tratamiento de ocho sufijos en nueve manuales estadounidenses de ELE y pone en evidencia una presentación inefectiva de la morfología derivativa generada por la poca explotación de la sufijación. Cuando esta... more
El presente estudio analiza el tratamiento de ocho sufijos en nueve manuales estadounidenses de ELE y pone en evidencia una presentación inefectiva de la morfología derivativa generada por la poca explotación de la sufijación. Cuando esta se presenta en los libros, suele ser para explicar el género gramatical y no para favorecer el desarrollo de estrategias de aprendizaje de vocabulario basadas en la identificación de patrones morfológicos. Esta situación conlleva la confusión sistemática entre sufijo y terminación gráfica, lo cual impide introducir reglas fiables sobre el funcionamiento del léxico en español. Sin embargo, algunos sufijos, como-mente,-ito e-ísimo, sí disfrutan de un tratamiento completo, que incluye tanto explicaciones sobre su significado como actividades para ejercitar diferentes tipos de conocimientos morfológicos. Estas observaciones invitan a desarrollar materiales didácticos que aprovechen la regularidad y productividad de algunos paradigmas derivativos. Palabras clave: morfología derivativa; manuales de ELE; vocabulario This study analyzes the treatment given to eight Spanish suffixes in nine elementary Spanish textbooks, and reveals an ineffective approach to derivational morphology produced by a lack of suffixation use. When suffixation is presented in the textbooks, it is mainly used to explain grammatical gender and not to promote the development of vocabulary learning strategies based on the identification of morphological patterns. This situation derives in a systematic confusion between suffixes and graphic endings, which prevents a thorough introduction of reliable rules about Spanish word formation. However, some suffixes like-mente,-ito and-ísimo, show a complete treatment, including explanations on their meanings as well as activities to exercise different types of morphological knowledge. These observations invite us to develop teaching materials that take advantage of the regularity and productivity of some paradigms.
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El presente trabajo pretende concienciar a los profesores de segundas lenguas de la importancia del adecuado manejo de los libros de texto, para favorecer una enseñanza eficaz del vocabulario. Para ello, proponemos un análisis de manuales... more
El presente trabajo pretende concienciar a los profesores de segundas lenguas de la importancia del adecuado manejo de los libros de texto, para favorecer una enseñanza eficaz del vocabulario. Para ello, proponemos un análisis de manuales a partir de dos propiedades esenciales del aprendizaje léxico: la profundidad del procesamiento (Leow 2015) y la práctica distribuida (Goossens et al. 2012). Ambos aspectos se han examinado en el tratamiento de diez adverbios transitivos de relación locativa en catorce manuales de Español como Lengua Extranjera de niveles iniciales. A través de estos datos, podremos valorar si los libros de texto favorecen la integración de estos adverbios en la memoria a largo plazo y proponer algunas sugerencias para su introducción en el aula. Palabras clave: niveles de procesamiento, frecuencia léxica, práctica distribuida, manuales de ELE This study aims to raise the awareness of language teachers about the adequate use of textbooks in the classroom, in order to promote efficient vocabulary teaching practices. Therefore, we propose a procedure for textbook analysis that is based on two essential properties of lexical learning: depth of processing (Leow 2015) and spaced practice, or recycling (Goossens et al. 2012). We exemplify this procedure by analyzing the treatment reserved to ten location adverbs in fourteen elementary Spanish textbooks. Based on those data, we evaluate to what extent the textbooks that we analyzed promote a long-term storage of a form-meaning relation for these adverbs and we offer some suggestions for an efficient usage of the activities presented in the books.
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Research Interests: Second Language Acquisition, Spanish, Spanish as a Foreign Language, Morphology (Languages And Linguistics), Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language, and 8 moreTextbook Analysis, Español Lengua Extranjera, Derivational Morphology, Materiales Para La Enseñanza Del Español Como Lengua Extranjera, Morfología, Language Textbooks, Libros De Texto Y Manuales Escolares, and Análisis De Manuales
Idiomatic expressions can be interpreted literally or figuratively. These two meanings are often processed in parallel or very rapidly, as evidenced by online measures of idiomatic processing. Because in many cases the figurative meaning... more
Idiomatic expressions can be interpreted literally or figuratively. These two meanings are often processed in parallel or very rapidly, as evidenced by online measures of idiomatic processing. Because in many cases the figurative meaning cannot be derived from the component lexical elements and because of the speed with which this meaning is accessed, it is assumed such meanings are stored in semantic memory. In the present study, we examined how literal equivalents and intact idiomatic expressions are stored in memory and whether episodic memory traces interact or interfere with semantic-level representations and vice versa. To examine age-invariance, younger and older adults studied lists of idioms and literal equivalents. On a recognition test, some studied items were presented in the alternative form (e.g., if the idiom was studied, its literal equivalent was tested). False alarms to these critical items suggested that studying literal equivalents activates the idiom from which they are derived, presumably due to spreading activation in lexical/semantic networks, and results in high rates of errors. Importantly, however, the converse (false alarms to literal equivalents after studying the idiom) were significantly lower, suggesting an advantage in storage for idioms. The results are consistent with idiom processing models that suggest obligatory access to figurative meanings and that this access can also occur indirectly, through literal equivalents.
Research Interests: Semantic Memory, Memory Studies, False Memory, Episodic Memory, Older Adults, and 7 moreAbout Idioms in English Language, Idioms, Idiomaticity, Collocation and idiomatic expressions, Identification Et Stratégie De Compréhension Des Expressions Idiomatiques, Phraseology, Idiomaticity, Formulaic Language, and Expresiones Idiomáticas
This study focuses on the interaction between morphological awareness and orthography from a developmental viewpoint. A dictation was designed that included different kinds of critical words in Spanish, classified according to spelling... more
This study focuses on the interaction between morphological awareness and orthography from a developmental viewpoint. A dictation was designed that included different kinds of critical words in Spanish, classified according to spelling difficulties due to the inclusion of: b or v, silent h, and homophone letters. We also distinguished between words whose orthographic difficulty (b, v or h) could be solved through their belonging to a verbal paradigm (imperfect tense: disfrutaba, paseaba; present perfect tense: he pasado, me ha encantado, etc.) and others that could not (belleza, vistas, almohada, horarios, etc.). The dictation was given to students of third, fifth and sixth grade. The results show that the number of misspellings in the past perfect forms diminished significantly from third to fifth grade, compared to words that were not part of the verbal paradigm. The pattern was not replicated, however, with the words pertaining to the imperfect paradigm. The results show that not all verbal paradigms follow the same pattern of development and that children in fifth grade differ in their treatment of h whether this is part or not of a recurring verbal paradigm. This might be interpreted as evidence for the use of morphological awareness to solve orthographic problems.
Keywords: morphological awareness, paradigmatic awareness, orthography, verbal paradigms.
Keywords: morphological awareness, paradigmatic awareness, orthography, verbal paradigms.
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Research on the impact of letter transpositions that arise across morpheme boundaries has yielded conflicting results. These results have led to the suggestion that a cross-linguistic difference may exist in the recognition of Spanish and... more
Research on the impact of letter transpositions that arise across morpheme boundaries has yielded conflicting results. These results have led to the suggestion that a cross-linguistic difference may exist in the recognition of Spanish and English words. In two masked-priming experiments run on separate groups of Spanish and English speakers, we tested this hypothesis by comparing the impacts of primes with letter transpositions that arose within morphemes or across morpheme boundaries on the recognition of identical or near-identical Spanish–English cognate targets. The results showed transposed-letter benefits in both Spanish and English that were not modulated by the position of the transposed letter in the prime stimulus. Our findings therefore add to the growing body of literature suggesting that the transposed-letter benefit is not affected by the position of the transposed letters relative to the morpheme boundary, and they dispel previous suggestions that there might be a genuine difference in orthographic coding across the Spanish and English writing systems.
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Theories that give support to the existence of a morphological decomposition step on the path between the visual exposition to the verbal stimulus and the access to its entry in the lexicon can adopt two different positions. On the one... more
Theories that give support to the existence of a morphological decomposition step on the path between the visual exposition to the verbal stimulus and the access to its entry in the lexicon can adopt two different positions. On the one hand, supra-lexical theories claim that such a step would follow the access to the meaning of the word. Pre-lexical theories, on the other hand, state that it would be previous to lexical access so that the decomposition would not take any semantic information into account. Another option is the one chosen by Schreuder and Baayen (1995) and Longtin and Meunier (2007), as they propose a double influence of morphological units at the pre- lexical stage as well as at the supra-lexical one. However, these two convergent theories show a central divergence, as the former posits a model with three processing stages in morphological processing, whereas the latter claims for a model with only two steps. The present paper aims at solving this opposition by proposing a lexical decision task where three types of critical stimuli were presented: Spanish words (aceptación), possible pseudo-words (aceptamiento) and impossible pseudo-words (aceptaz). Our results point to a model in two steps for words that are stored in the mental lexicon and in three steps for new, unknown, stimuli.
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Este trabajo se presenta como una argumentación a favor de la enseñanza de la morfología léxica, y más concretamente de los mecanismos sufijales, en el aula de Español como Lengua Extranjera (ELE) a estudiantes norteamericanos de niveles... more
Este trabajo se presenta como una argumentación a favor de la enseñanza de la morfología léxica, y más concretamente de los mecanismos sufijales, en el aula de Español como Lengua Extranjera (ELE) a estudiantes norteamericanos de niveles iniciales. Así, tratamos de ofrecer datos que nos permitan explicar por qué se deberían enseñar los sufijos derivativos en al aula y cuáles podrían incluirse en los niveles iniciales. También ofrecemos una breve propuesta de instrucción en la que explicamos cómo podrían insertarse los nuevos contenidos en los materiales ya existentes de los manuales de ELE.
Para llevar a cabo este trabajo procedimos por etapas. Primero, presentamos un panorama general sobre el papel de la morfología en los estudios lingüísticos, psicolingüísticos y de psicología de la educación. Una vez realizada esta primera etapa de revisión de la bibliografía previa, nos centramos en describir tres estudios propios en los que nos aproximamos a los conocimientos morfológicos, y sus dificultades relacionadas, de un grupo de estudiantes norteamericanos de ELE. El primer estudio, consistente en dos pruebas de priming morfológico, nos ofreció datos sobre el procesamiento automático de los alumnos y nos permitió observar si disponen de las habilidades lingüísticas necesarias para llevar a cabo la descomposición morfológica automática. Nuestro segundo estudio, de carácter evolutivo, nos ofreció datos cuantitativos y cualitativos sobre los errores y aciertos en cinco tareas de conciencia morfológica de sujetos repartidos por tres niveles de dominio del español. Finalmente, nuestro último estudio se centró en los efectos de una breve instrucción morfológica sobre los resultados de unos alumnos de primer semestre de español en las tareas previamente citadas.
Esta triple perspectiva nos permite ofrecer un panorama completo de lo que nuestros estudiantes son capaces de hacer sin ayuda del profesor, las dificultades que encuentran y en qué aspectos concretos una instrucción explícita les podría resultar más ventajosa. Basándonos en los datos de nuestros tres estudios y en los resultados de un análisis de manuales de ELE, terminamos este texto proponiendo una lista de recomendaciones con respecto a la introducción de los mecanismos de sufijación en el aula de ELE. Con esta aproximación esperamos ofrecer una herramienta de consulta para los profesores que estén interesados en introducir componentes morfológicos en su práctica docente.
Para llevar a cabo este trabajo procedimos por etapas. Primero, presentamos un panorama general sobre el papel de la morfología en los estudios lingüísticos, psicolingüísticos y de psicología de la educación. Una vez realizada esta primera etapa de revisión de la bibliografía previa, nos centramos en describir tres estudios propios en los que nos aproximamos a los conocimientos morfológicos, y sus dificultades relacionadas, de un grupo de estudiantes norteamericanos de ELE. El primer estudio, consistente en dos pruebas de priming morfológico, nos ofreció datos sobre el procesamiento automático de los alumnos y nos permitió observar si disponen de las habilidades lingüísticas necesarias para llevar a cabo la descomposición morfológica automática. Nuestro segundo estudio, de carácter evolutivo, nos ofreció datos cuantitativos y cualitativos sobre los errores y aciertos en cinco tareas de conciencia morfológica de sujetos repartidos por tres niveles de dominio del español. Finalmente, nuestro último estudio se centró en los efectos de una breve instrucción morfológica sobre los resultados de unos alumnos de primer semestre de español en las tareas previamente citadas.
Esta triple perspectiva nos permite ofrecer un panorama completo de lo que nuestros estudiantes son capaces de hacer sin ayuda del profesor, las dificultades que encuentran y en qué aspectos concretos una instrucción explícita les podría resultar más ventajosa. Basándonos en los datos de nuestros tres estudios y en los resultados de un análisis de manuales de ELE, terminamos este texto proponiendo una lista de recomendaciones con respecto a la introducción de los mecanismos de sufijación en el aula de ELE. Con esta aproximación esperamos ofrecer una herramienta de consulta para los profesores que estén interesados en introducir componentes morfológicos en su práctica docente.
Research Interests: Second Language Acquisition, Psycholinguistics, Applied Linguistics, Morphology, Lingüística, and 7 moreLinguistica aplicada, Español Lengua Extranjera, Morfologia, Adquisición De Segundas Lenguas, Morphological Awarness and Vocabulary Size, Morphological Awareness, and Enseñanza De Segundas Lenguas
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During the Fall trimester 2013, the students in the Spanish Composition course, at Laval University, participated in a projects that aimed at giving them an opportunity of discovering movies from recognized movie directors from... more
During the Fall trimester 2013, the students in the Spanish Composition course, at Laval University, participated in a projects that aimed at giving them an opportunity of discovering movies from recognized movie directors from Spanish-speaking countries. In groups, they had to gather information on the movie, the director and the actors and create a blog where they shared both objective data (summary, date, biographic data from the director and the authors) and a subjective critic. Using blogs allowed them to share their work with the rest of the class and have a more informed vision of the filmic trends in the Spanish-speaking world. You can find below some examples of those blogs.